Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 2,600 Shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW)

Heartland Advisors Inc. decreased its position in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,068,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned approximately 1.96% of EZCORP worth $13,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,084,777 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,160,000 after buying an additional 2,809 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in EZCORP by 25.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,009,770 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,320,000 after purchasing an additional 201,700 shares during the period. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC acquired a new position in shares of EZCORP during the third quarter valued at about $8,372,000. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in shares of EZCORP by 77.6% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 658,515 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,047,000 after purchasing an additional 287,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in EZCORP by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 595,870 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,683,000 after acquiring an additional 10,390 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EZPW shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of EZCORP from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $13.50 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $16.00 price target on EZCORP in a report on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $16.88.

EZCORP Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ EZPW opened at $15.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $824.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $13.36 and its 200-day moving average is $12.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 2.13. EZCORP, Inc. has a one year low of $9.66 and a one year high of $15.35.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.07. EZCORP had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 11.04%. Equities research analysts predict that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

EZCORP Company Profile

EZCORP, Inc provides pawn services in the United States and Latin America. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Pawn, Latin America Pawn, and Other Investments. The company offers pawn loans collateralized by tangible personal property, jewelry, consumer electronics, tools, sporting goods, and musical instruments.